Children's work in Angola

46 Pages·2007·1.98 MB·English

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Children’s work in Angola: an overview

F. Blanco Allais*

Working Paper
December 2007

Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) Project
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
Faculty of Economics
V. Columbia 2
00133 Rome Tor Vergata

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

As part of broader efforts toward durable solutions to child labor, the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank initiated
the interagency Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) project in December 2000. The project is
guided by the Oslo Agenda for Action, which laid out the priorities for the international community
in the fight against child labor. Through a variety of data collection, research, and assessment
activities, the UCW project is broadly directed toward improving understanding of child labor, its
causes and effects, how it can be measured, and effective policies for addressing it. For further
information, see the project website at www.ucw-project.org.

This paper is part of the research carried out within UCW (Understanding Children's Work), a joint
ILO, World Bank and UNICEF project. The views expressed here are those of the authors' and
should not be attributed to the ILO, the World Bank, UNICEF or any of these agencies’ member
countries.

* International Labour Office (ILO)
Children’s work in Angola: an overview

Working Paper
December 2007

ABSTRACT

This report provides an overview of the child labour phenomenon in Angola, its extent,
characteristics and determinants. It is based on the analysis of UNICEF Multiple Cluster
Indicators Survey (MICS) 2001.
Children’s work in Angola: an overview

Working Paper
December 2007

CONTENTS

1.  Development Context .................................................................................................... 1 
Demographic indicators ................................................................................................... 1 
Economic indicators ......................................................................................................... 2 
Education ......................................................................................................................... 4 
Health indicators .............................................................................................................. 4 
2.  The data .......................................................................................................................... 5 
3.  Extent of children’s work in Angola .............................................................................. 7 
Children’s work defined ................................................................................................... 7 
Total prevalence of children involved in work ................................................................ 8 
Prevalence of work by children by gender and age .......................................................... 9 
Prevalence of work by children by residence and region. .............................................. 10 
Trends in prevalence of work by children ...................................................................... 13 
Prevalence of household chores, by sex ......................................................................... 14 
4.  Charcteristics of children’s work ................................................................................. 15 
Modality of work............................................................................................................ 15 
Intensity of work ............................................................................................................ 16 
Intensity of household chores ......................................................................................... 16 
Poverty and children’s participation rate ....................................................................... 18 
Mother’s educational level ............................................................................................. 19 
5.  Extent of chilren’s work in Angola .............................................................................. 19 
Child labour legislation .................................................................................................. 19 
Child labour incidence ................................................................................................... 20 
Child labour incidence including the performance of non-economic activities ............. 21 
6.  Determinants of children’s work and schooling .......................................................... 22 
Area of residence ............................................................................................................ 22 
Gender ............................................................................................................................ 22 
Family structure and orphans ......................................................................................... 23 
Mother’s educational status ............................................................................................ 23
Household wealth ........................................................................................................... 23 
Water availability ........................................................................................................... 24 
Household structure ....................................................................................................... 24 
References ............................................................................................................................... 25 
ANNEX A: Maps of Angola ................................................................................................... 27 
ANNEX B: Detailed statistical annex: Tabulations from the 2001 Angolan Multiple
Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) ........................................................................................... 28 
ANNEX C: Regression results ................................................................................................ 36 
ANNEX D: Children’s activity status by region: GIS analysis ............................................... 39
1
UCW WORKING PAPER SERIES, DECEMBER 2007
1. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT
1. The last episode of the 27-year-long civil war between the People’s Movement
for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and UNITA started in 1998 and ended in April
2002 with the signature of a ceasefire agreement between both factions. Since then, a
history of five decades of war has slowly begun to be left behind. The relative
progress achieved in Angola during the post-war period is evidenced in changes in
the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) (Figure 1). This change is associated
with the improvement of the life expectancy, the increase of the GDP per capita (from
2,130 US$ in 2002 to 2,344 US$ in 2003) and the progressive increase in the adult
literacy rate. Figure 1 also shows that Angola’s HDI is converging with that of Sub-
Saharan Africa as a whole.

Figure 1. Human Development Index (HDI)
0.6
0.515
0.5 0.468 0.465 0.472
0.445 0.439
0.4 0.377 0.381
HDI0.3
0.2
0.1 0.091 0.084 0.07
0.033
0
2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
Angola Sub-Saharan Africa Difference
Source: United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Reports from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006

2. Despite these positive signs, Angola human development challenges remain
daunting. In 2004, its HDI ranked 161st of a total of 177 countries. As the index
combines three essential dimensions of human development (life expectancy, adult
literacy and enrolment rates, and PPP income)2, and Angola has a relatively high
GDP per capita within the Sub-Saharan African context (2,180 PPP US$ vs. 1,946
compared to 1,946 US$ in 2004, respectively), one can conclude that the country
broadly underperforms in the non-monetary dimensions of human development.

Demographic indicators
3. According to the latest estimates of the United Nations Population Division,
Angola’s population is close to 16,095,000 (2005). The population pyramid derived
from Angolan MICS 2001 (Figure 2) shows a demographic profile characteristic of
“young” developing countries, with approximately 60 percent of the total population
under 18 years of age.3 The comparative broad base of the pyramid reflects the high
fertility rate of the country (6.6 children per woman on average – 2005 est.), that even

2 Health is approximated by life expectancy; education through adult literacy and enrolment at the primary,
secondary and tertiary level and; decent standard of living through purchasing power parity, PPP, income.
3 UNICEF, 2003.
2
UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S WORK IN ANGOLA: AN OVERVIEW

exceeds the average fertility rate found for the entire Sub-Saharan African region (5.4
children per woman on average – 2005 est.)4. It is also interesting to note the sex
differences that exist in the population composition. At the national level, results
derived from MICS 2001 indicate a marked deficit of men particularly for the age
categories ranging from 15 to 39 years; there are approximately 91 men per every 100
women at the national level5. As stated in UNICEF, 2003: “This male to female ratio
is characteristic of countries that have experienced high levels of migration or
suffered a war. In Angola, the lack of men is likely to be associated with selective
mortality caused by the war and by male migration”.

Figure 2. Total population by sex and age group, Angola 2001
70 and more
65 to 69
60 to 64
55 to 59
50 to 54
45 to 49
40 to 44
35 to 39
30 to 34
25 to 29
20 to 24
15 to 19
10 to 14
5 to 9
0 to 4
25 20 15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Percentage
Male Female

Source: UCW calculations based on Angolan MICS, 2001

4. Life expectancy remains very low in Angola, at about 41.0 years compared with
46.1 years for Sub-Saharan Africa6. In this regard, the situation is particularly
dramatic for children. According to UNICEF estimations, the country has the second
highest under five mortality rate in the world after Sierra Leone: one child in every
four dies before reaching the age of five (which in absolute terms represents
approximately 199,000 child deaths per year)7. The infant mortality rate (children
under 1) is 154 per 1,000 live births, against 112 per 1,000 for the entire Sub-Saharan
Africa.8

Economic indicators
5. The Angolan economy relies mainly on oil revenue; oil accounts for over half of
GDP and approximately 90 percent of export value. After Nigeria, Angola is the
second largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Production stood at 1.4 million

4 UNICEF, 2007.
5 UNICEF, 2003.
6 UNDP’s Human Development Report 2006:
http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_AGO.html
7 UNICEF, 2007
8 Idem.
3
UCW WORKING PAPER SERIES, DECEMBER 2007
barrels per day (bpd) in 2005, with prospects of a further rise in production volume to
2.0 million bpd by 2007.9 The steep rise in oil production, combined with the
persistent high oil prices in the last years, have determined to a large extent the
outstanding macroeconomic performance of the country.

Figure 3. Estimations and projections of the gross domestic product, constant prices
(National Currency, Base year: 2000)
40
35.3
35
e
ng30
a
h
c
nt 25
e 20.6
c
ual per20 14.5 15.3 16.0
n15
An 11.2
10 6.0 6.0 5.7 6.8 6.1
5 3.03.4 3.14.5 3.7 3.34.2
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year
Angola Sub-Saharan Africa

Source: World Economic Outlook 2007, International Monetary Fund

6. The diamond industry represents the second source of export revenues after oil,
accounting for 95 percent of non-oil exports, and about 10 percent of non-oil GDP.
Angola is now the fourth largest producer of rough diamonds in the World10.
7. Macroeconomic indicators have progressively improved with a sustained decline
in the 12 month Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate from 31 percent in 2004 to
18.5 percent in 2005. The fiscal situation exhibited a surplus of about 7 percent of the
GDP in 2005. As pointed out by the World Bank, the medium-term fiscal and
financial framework remains fragile given the country’s extreme dependence on the
oil sector.11
8. Angola is also endowed with extensive prime agricultural land, but the large
number of landmines hinders the capacity of the population to benefit from this
resource; only 3 percent of the total land of the country is arable.12 The most
comprehensive study on the geographical distribution of landmines in the country is
currently being conducted by the Survey Action Center (SAC), an international non-
profit organization that coordinates the implementation of the Landmine Impact
Survey (LIS).13 The preliminary results of the ongoing survey indicate that 1,900
communities (8.6 percent of communities in Angola) were affected by mines and/or
explosive remnants of war (ERW). In terms of population, approximately 2.2 million

9 Information extracted from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=10070293
94365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019501109024
10 Idem.
11 World Bank:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/ANGOLAEXTN/0,,menuPK:322
500~pagePK:141132~piPK:141107~theSitePK:322490,00.html
12 FAO: http://www.fao.org/es/ess/yearbook/vol_1_2/pdf/Angola.pdf
13 Survey Action Center: http://www.sac-na.org/sac_overview.html
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UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S WORK IN ANGOLA: AN OVERVIEW

Angolans (or 16-20 percent of the population) are affected on a daily basis by
landmines and ERWs.14 The landmine infestation is widely known to affect
particularly children and adolescents concentrated in the agricultural subsistence
sector. An estimated 80,000 landmine victims with injury-related disabilities are
living in the country.15

Education
9. The educational infrastructure suffered extensive damage during the war.
According to UNICEF figures, nearly 1,500 school buildings were destroyed from
1996-1999. Under the regional Schools for Africa (SFA) initiative - a partnership of
the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Hamburg Society for the Promotion of
Democracy and International Law, and UNICEF – a total of 1,500 schools are
scheduled to be built or repaired in the next years.16 Educational indicators provide an
idea of the challenges to overcome in the sector. Adult literacy rates reflect significant
differences by sex. While 83 percent of adult males are literate, only 54 percent of
women are found in an equivalent situation.17 Approximately 35 percent of children
aged 5-14 were not attending school in 2001, while the figure climbs to 40 percent for
adolescents aged 15-17.18

Health indicators
10. Angola’s national adult HIV prevalence is lower than in any other southern
African countries (Figure 4), with approximately 3.7 percent of adults aged 15-49
years being HIV zero-positive.19 The most important reason for the relatively low
levels of HIV/AIDS in Angola is that the internal conflict held back potential
migration flows from neighbouring countries in which HIV is much more prevalent.
With the ceasefire and the subsequent return of refugees from neighbouring countries
Angola has become critically exposed to HIV (consider, for example, that bordering
Namibia and Zambia have HIV prevalence rates of 19.2 percent and 17.0 percent,
respectively). The low prevalence of contraceptive usage among Angolan women (6
percent in women aged 15-49 compared to 23 percent for the whole Sub-Saharan
region)20 adds another risk element for the propagation of HIV. According to
UNAIDS, there are approximately 35,000 Angolan children aged 0-14 living with
HIV, and 160,000 AIDS orphans aged 0-17 years.21

14 Landmine Monitor: http://www.icbl.org/lm/2006/angola.html#fn26
1. 15 US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78718.htm
16 UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/angola_27832.html and
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/angola_36659.html
17 UNDP’s Human Development Report 2006
18 UCW calculations based on Angolan MICS 2001
19 UNAIDS: http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/2006_EpiUpdate_en.pdf
20 UNICEF, 2003.
21 UNAIDS: http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Countries/angola.asp